The iSTORM Instrument for Airborne Measurements of Gamma-Ray Emissions from Thunderstorms
Authors:
Daniel Shy,
J. Eric Grove,
Bernard Phlips,
Alena Schell,
Mary Johnson-Rambert,
Mason Quick,
David Corredor,
Scott Podgorny,
Roy Salinas,
Mitch Davis
Abstract:
The in-Situ Thunderstorm Observer for Radiation Mechanisms (iSTORM) is a gamma-ray spectrometer to study gamma-ray transients originating from thunderstorms, such as glows and terrestrial gamma-ray flashes (TGFs). It is designed and built by the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory for deployment aboard a NASA ER-2 aircraft. Using an array of 32 one-inch-diameter $\mathrm{CeBr}_3$ scintillators read out…
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The in-Situ Thunderstorm Observer for Radiation Mechanisms (iSTORM) is a gamma-ray spectrometer to study gamma-ray transients originating from thunderstorms, such as glows and terrestrial gamma-ray flashes (TGFs). It is designed and built by the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory for deployment aboard a NASA ER-2 aircraft. Using an array of 32 one-inch-diameter $\mathrm{CeBr}_3$ scintillators read out with silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs), the instrument achieves an energy range of $\sim 250 \ \mathrm{keV}$ to $5 \ \mathrm{MeV}$ under flight conditions, with a total geometrical area of $157 \ \mathrm{cm^2}$. One of two gamma-ray instruments in the ALOFT campaign, iSTORM recorded glows, terrestrial gamma-ray flashes (TGFs), and the newly discovered flickering gamma-ray flashes (FGFs).
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Submitted 6 August, 2026;
originally announced August 2026.